Friday, March 24, 2006

In his recent post, Cernig points to an interesting article by Galal Nassar in Al-Ahram Weekly, in which Nassar describes the difficulties of a military strike against Iran, but depicts a possible way out for the US.

Al-Ahram Weekly | War by proxy: "... There is, unfortunately, another and far more likely scenario - war by proxy. A war between Sunnis and Shias in the region could all too easily present itself as the solution to the West's dilemma. It would sap the capacities of both sides to the benefit of many parties, none of them Arab or Muslim."

"It is a matter of curious timing," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said, suggesting Iran was trying to deflect international pressure from its nuclear programs now under criticial discussion at the United Nations.

I personally think it is the other way around. US has always been accusing Iran of supporting insurgencies in Iraq. Suddenly, it is said that Iraq's stability is not possible without Iran's involvement and the US decides to get involved in talks with Iran. How odd it is to talk to someone who is your enemy! Now, who is deflecting international attention?Whatever the reason, I am glad that both parties are moving in the direction that they should. I am hopeful that it'd open up more doors rather shutting doors up.

She continues that it is important "that the Iranian government recognizes that it will be isolated if it continues down this path, [and] that we [will] not isolate the Iranian people."

What she says is pretty nice, but I don't know how she is going to implement it. The US government has so far been doing a good job in isolating Iranian people: by demonizing the name of their country, by denying them VISAs, by denying them safety in their air travels, and by imposing restrictions on their scientific cooperation with the rest of the world.

I usually call this sort of statements "tricky jokes" and I'll continue doing so until I see tangible changes is the US policy towards the Persians (the Iranians, some may say).

Thursday, March 09, 2006

Contingency Plan

Iranian delegation have always said that they have a predetermined action in case something happens. Now that Iran's dossier has been reported to UNSC, Iran will be forced to abandon its nuclear program, because UNSC resolutions are legally binding.Lets wait and see what contingency plan Iran has now. Hope the plan is not to leave NPT, as it will start the drum beating for a war.

Friday, March 03, 2006

Last-Ditch

BBC Persian reports that the Iranian and Russian negotiators have reached a deal to keep the matter within IAEA. This will definitely add to the perplexity of the situation in the next IAEA meeting on Monday.